Analyst names three technology stocks for "buy-and-forget" investments

Evercore has included a portfolio of three technology stocks - Apple, electronic connector manufacturer Amphenol and cloud networking company Arista Networks - among the best ideas for next year, CNBC reports . According to analyst Amit Daryanani, investors can act on a "buy-and-forget" basis with these securities. In his estimation, "each of these companies is consistently meeting expectations and uniquely positioned to benefit from the proliferation of AI."

Evercore believes Apple is well-positioned for the new year after a strong outlook for the current quarter. "iPhone sales momentum appears to be picking up following the launch of the iPhone 17 lineup, and Services segment growth at low to mid double-digit rates (i.e. around 10-15% - Oninvest) looks sustainable thanks to a diversified driver base," the analyst wrote.

The main discussion around Apple in 2026 will center on the extent to which the company will be able to monetize the expected Siri update in the spring and create additional revenue streams from it, Daryanani predicts.

Apple shares have risen by 8.8% this year, while the S&P 500 index has grown by 17.5%. For a long time, the company remained among the outsiders: in April, the fall in its quotations reached 31%. But signs of higher than expected demand for the new line of iPhones, accelerated the value of securities, as a result, the capitalization of Apple exceeded $4 trillion. Wall Street has a stable optimistic attitude towards the company: now 30 analysts out of 50 advise to buy its shares. To sell - suggest four, while three months ago "bearish" recommendations were only two, follows from the data of MarketWatch.

The maker of electronic connectors will continue to outperform peers on both revenue and margin next year, Evercore expects. "With each additional dollar of revenue generating about 30 cents of profit for the company and strategy execution remaining strong, Amphenol is well positioned to grow above the market and continue to outperform earnings per share," the analyst said in a note.

Amphenol's capitalization has almost doubled this year. But Wall Street still suggests to increase the share in this company - 14 analysts out of 22 recommend to buy its securities, MarketWatch shows . No one recommends selling. And the average target indicates a growth potential of about 10%.

Daryanani predicts that Arista's AI revenue in 2026 is likely to be higher than current expectations. He believes the company has the potential to accelerate revenue growth - after increasing by about 27% in 2025. This will be driven by strong demand for AI data center networking equipment, continued expansion of the company's core business, a stronger position in enterprise and office networking, and the addition of major new AI customers, including OpenAI and xAI.

Arista Networks added almost 19% for 2025. Its growth potential, according to the average estimate of analysts, is the highest among the three: more than 26% relative to the closing level on December 23. As in the case with Amphenol, there are no "bears" regarding Arista securities. And 24 analysts out of 28 advise to buy them.

The Evercore analyst expects demand for AI infrastructure to maintain the momentum seen this year. However, he said, metrics such as cash flow and earnings will become increasingly important to investors. "2025 was a positive year for the IT hardware and networking sector as AI adoption accelerated. That said, stock performance mainly reflected revenue growth, while earnings received less attention," Daryanani wrote. - We expect margins and free cash flow to [now] be the focus. In choosing which stocks are able to outperform the market, market participants will be evaluating the "practical utility of AI" rather than just "investing in AI."

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor